ALBUMS

• BOBBIE GENTRY: THE GIRL FROM CHICKASAW COUNTY: DISC 3: LOCAL GENTRY: 1968: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: The third disc from the eight disc box set. The box set was released last fall-but the music from this disc was 1968 her third album in a one year period of time. Half the songs here are covers- including three by Lennon-McCartney. While I prefer her originals because she was such a fine writer- she carries off the covers well with her great voice- “Eleanor Rigby” a highlight.

• EVA CASSIDY: SONGBIRD: 1998: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: Eva Cassidy died in 1996 at the age of 33- at the time she had two albums released but they had gone nowhere. This compilation of her work was released in 1998. A couple years later a DJ in the UK started playing music from it and it took off- and she gained some posthumous fame and there have been many more recordings of hers released since. She wasn’t a songwriter but covered songs- what a voice she had- and she had the ability of covering well known songs and making them her own/ making you forget the original. The song that is my favorite of hers  is the first track on this disc- “Fields Of Gold” written by Sting- she steals the song from him.

• BOB DYLAN: THE FREEWHEELIN’ BOB DYLAN: 1963: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: Bob’s debut showed promise but it was considered a flop at the time. The problem was only two Dylan originals. The sophomore album is different- Dylan wrote 11 of the 13 songs- and they are very strong “Blowin’ In The Wind”, ” A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall”, “Don’t  Think Twice It’s Alright”- were all played by Dylan when I saw him in concert last November.  Other standouts “Girl From The North Country”, “Oxford Blues’, “Master’s Of War.” Bob had arrived and hasn’t gone away since. Bob at the time was more popular on the UK charts than in the US. The album went to #22 in the US to #1 in the UK.

• PAUL MCCARTNEY: FLOWERS IN THE DIRT: 1989: 4 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: This is the original album not the decades later release with the demos that featured Paul and Elvis. The original album was strong enough-but he made a mistake when he didn’t go with all the songs he and Elvis wrote together as the album. Since leaving The Beatles Paul for some reason has surrounded himself with inferior [to him} talents. This was a smart move- the mid-late 80’s found him slipping both in popularity and in critical acclaim. Elvis would be the greatest talent he worked with since John Lennon. “My Brave Face” would be his final Top 40 hit.

• LYLE LOVETT: LYLE LOVETT: 1986: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: 1986 was a great year for country music debuts- Steve Earle, Dwight Yoakam and Lyle Lovett all had their debut albums released that year and I was an instant fan of all three. Highlights on Lyle’s debut- “God Will”, “This Old Porch”, “The Cowboy Song”, “You Can’t Resist It”, “Farther Down The Line” but not a weak song to be found. The Dean of Rock Critics Robert Christgau described Lovett’s debut as “Writes like Guy Clark, only plainer, sings like Jesse Winchester only countrier.

• PAUL MCCARTNEY: RAM: 1971: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: One of those albums that gets better as the years pass. At the time of release it was dissed by most of the critics-now most consider it a classic. “Uncle Albert/ Admiral Halsey” was a #1 his first #1 since leaving The Beatles- and while I like that song its not close to being the best on the album. In looking over reviews at the time it wasn’t only negative but harsh. I think most would now admit they were wrong.